tennis elbow pain for months

I have had a clean from my tennis elbow about a year ago now and it seemed to have worked only for a very short time. In the meantime I have had several shots of cortisone injenctions as well which didnt do the trick either.
However, I was pain free for almost a year until a few months ago - my doc wants me to have a surgical repair of the tendon but I am a bit sceptical.

I am in alot of pain especially at night when I can hardly move my elbow.
Should I have this operation which could be a 6 week long term recovery or
does any one know other treatsments that could be effective?

Please help as I dont want to be out of action for so long......thanks Sue.

I had tennis elbow when I used to play tennis. Icing it up was the only thing which helped. I could ice it up after a game and go out and play again the next day. Tendon surgery isn't always successful. Did the doc tell you that? With FMS, since it is a connective-tissue disease, our tendons are often in bad shape. I snapped my bicep tendon and had to have it repaired. The doc said the tendon was generally in bad shape. Good luck to you.

It's great for tendon damage. You can buy it on-line or at health food stores. It's helped a couple of my sisters who had tendon damage, one in particular who had had problems for several years.

If you google "magnesium tendons" you'll see how important magnesium is for tendon health.

The magnesium "oil" is not really an oil but magnesium chloride in water. The solution can be drying to the skin, so you can rinse it off (it can leave a residue) 20 minutes or 1/2 an hour after application, giving the magnesium a chance to be absorbed. It's helped my lower back on several occasions when it was on the verge of goign out and is also helping with a tendon in my thumb.

Along with everything else that comes my way as a massage therapist, I see a lot of injuries and post-surgery issues. Tennis elbow is a common one. There is a lot that a good sports injury session could do for you, getting all the tissue in the area to relax better, improve circulation, etc. It definitely can help you be more comfortable, and maybe help you recognize things you do that you could stop doing -- become more body aware.

I have been convinced for years that those with Fibro have actual tendon pathology as a complication to FM and I have never once believed those that say there is no muscle or tendon dsyfunction - balony. There are actual studies that show those with FM have more tendinosis (tendon degeneration) than normals.

The last 3 years for me has been a nightmare with tenosynivtis and tendinosis in around 10 tendons (plantar, ankle, knee, wrist, knees, trigger finger, bicep, ect).

I have not found answers or relief. I tried platelet rich plasma injections 2 mths ago and not sure yet - can take 6 mths to know. it is expensive and not covered by insurance but some studies have shown it useful for tennis elbow and plantar facia. there is also extra corporeal shockwave therapy (normally covered under physio) that has shown to be helpful for tennis elbow. there is also nitric oxide pacthes as well. I have not tried shockwave (not yet anyway) but I did try nitric oxide patch and got a bad headache and that is one of the side effects so that is a no go for me. there have been a few studies as well on these patches that show they can help. unfortunately there is no silver bullet and research is lacking when it comes to tendinopathy (just like FM) and so you just have to keep trying. one of the most successful therapies is eccentric loading of the tendon (ie. for knee patella tendon - it would be the motion of squatting down so not the muscle contraction but the opposite movement - this helps to re-arrange the collagen fibers that have been misaligned and damaged.

I would add thyroid issues can play a part in tendinopathy and especially tenosynivitis (inflamation of the sheath surrounding the tendon) and why this needs to be considered and it is for me as I have suspected for a while now I have thyroid issues (TSH ranges from 3-5) and Free T4 is in 30% quartile and my antibodies while low are still out of range and I have been cycling between hypo and hyperthyroidism for a few years now (likely hashimotos) so out of desperation and most mainsteam doctors saying my thyroid is fine and with all the break down of my tendons I said screw it and I started 25mcg synthroid 1 mth ago - energy and my horrible hypoglycemia is better - not much of an effect on tendon pain but this could take 6-12 mths as thyroid is needed for healing and so if I have been hypo for many years - it will take a while to correct the damage or I hope anyway. Even if it helps just my hypoglycemia and energy it will be well worth it as it was horrible (it ruled my life - had to eat every 2 hrs and if not i would crash hard). you see thyroid helps to get the glucose into the cell so it can be at acceptable levels in the blood as mine was to my total surpirse but if one is low in thyroid, the cells will be starved.

Many with Fm have thyroid issues or feel better on it. It could be like Dr. Lowe says, our labs might be ok or low normal, but we need more than avg person or could be our cells are more resistance to it than an avg person - hard to say.

work for some but for most they do not - help short term but pain comes back because the tendon is still weak (if physical rehab has not been done and this is the case for most) and cortisone actually weakens tendons - this is why it is never ever injected near or around achilles or bicep tendon near the elbow as there is a risk they can rupture. cortison shots definitely have a place and are highly recommended for tenosynivitis (ie. de quervains and or trigger finger) or bursitis but less so for tendinosis and yes most tendinitis is not true tendinitis with true inflamation but rather no or very little inflamation and actualy micro tears and a weak and degenerated tendon and cortisone is not going to do much for that. again tendinosis - most common- = tendon degernation and tendinitis (&lt; 10% ) is a truly inflamaed tendon where some anti inflam meds will cure it and rest in 1-2 wks. unfortunately tendinosis is much harder to treat and can take 6-12 mths.

platelet rich plasma actually heals and makes them stronger - well that is the claim anyway - platelets are immune cell that triggers growth factors when there is an injury and it is these growth factors that help heal an injury. your using your own blood, they spin it in a machine and then inject just the platelets back into and near the injued tendon (using ultra sound guidance is ideal)

[This Message was Edited on 12/30/2012]
[This Message was Edited on 12/30/2012]
[This Message was Edited on 12/30/2012]
[This Message was Edited on 12/30/2012]

prp is actually a type of prolotherapy as I see it was also mentioned by another poster. with prolo - an irritant is injected where as with prp - one is actually injecting one's own blood (Ie. platelets). note: tendons have very very little bloodflow to them and why they are real stubborn buggars to heal and why intuitively it makes sense to inject platelets to the area. in a normal healthy person , an injured tendon at the cellular level will take 3-6 mths to heal and even up to 2 years (yes 2 years as the collagen remodels) and why I wont know until 6-9 mths if the PRP I had in my wrist, elbow and distal bicep tendons will help. cost me $1,000 out of pocket for 10ccs of PRP. It is an experiment so to speak and if it works I will do my other arm and both ankles and feet. But now on thyroid too so not sure if Im going to know if it will be the PRP or thyroid that will help assuming I am helped but I guess at this stage I dont really care knowing which one as long as I feel better as I am in bad shape and desperate.

Ok, that is enough for me, as my fingers and wrists are hurting after all this typing

It took six months for it to feel fairly normal. The official healing period is a year. I had to sloooooowly stretch it out and the doc told me I'd never be able to completely straighten my arm. Well, I worked really hard at PT and can extend my arm all the way but I am never to put any weight on that arm by hanging by it or doing pull ups. Tendon surgery is best avoided unless the tendon ruptures or the surgery is absolutely necessary. Recovery is a long road back.